The on-loan Arsenal star was not guaranteed a starting place in the team at the start of the ongoing season.
Arsenal's Spanish head coach Unai Emery gestures on the touchline during the English Premier League football match between Leicester City and Arsenal at King Power Stadium in Leicester, central England on November 9, 2019. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)
In a recent media interaction, on-loan Arsenal star Henrikh Mkhitaryan has slammed Gunners boss Unai Emery claiming that it was his rigid tactics that prevented him from succeeding at the club.
Mkhitaryan is currently on loan with Serie A giants side AS Roma. He stated that he left Arsenal as he wanted to start and not warm the benches. He was reportedly not guaranteed a starting place in the team at the start of the ongoing season. Consequently, he moved on loan to AS Roma.
“He paid more attention to tactics, so my role changed,” he was quoted as saying, by FourFourTwo.
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“I was starting as a winger but had to build play with the defensive midfielder. It’s why I couldn’t contribute as many goals or assist,” he added.
“I like to play more freely and move wherever there’s space, but you have to do the job that the manager asks.”
“I couldn’t accept that I had to sit on the bench for some matches. I know my qualities and what I can do.”
“I’m 30-years-old now and I like to play football, not just sit on the bench and waste my time.”
“Emery and [head of football] Raul Sanllehi assured me I was important for Arsenal, but I signed for Roma because they believed in me more,” Mkhitaryan concluded.
Mkhitaryan has a goal and an assist each in seven appearances for AS Roma this season.
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